Lens Crafters: Bataleon’s Ryan “Diggles” Scardigli

This past weekend after a hotly-contested video battle with Arbor Snowboards, Bataleon (who a lot of insiders claimed to have one of the strongest edits) was left knocked out of the Battle Of The Brands contest. We caught up with the mind and eyes behind Bataleon’s entry to see what he was thinking when creating their video. – John Cavan

J: So, unfortunately you guys were just eliminated from the Battle Of The Brands video contest. Your edit was really strong. What was your basic idea going into making the edit?

R: Yeah we’re all pretty bummed. The whole crew was stoked with the way the edit came out, and we were expecting to at least go a few rounds. I didn’t have too much of a plan at first with the edit, but then as more and more ideas came up, I just decided to go with them all. Eric Messier had mentioned something about Robot Chicken, and that definitely gave me lots of inspiration.

Although the entire Bataleon team wore custom windbreakers at Superpark 16, they were by no means just farting around on the hill. P: Kevin Westenbarger

J: Music plays a big role in your edit. How did you go about choosing all of the different songs to give it a different feel? The “I am the god of hellfire” has been a big hit around the office, by the way.

R: Some of the songs are from bands I have listened to for a long time and some are pretty random. A lot of time when I am editing I just open iTunes and start clicking on stuff. I have days of music that I’ve never heard in my library that I have collected from friends. The “god of hellfire” line is actually the opening of the song in the credits “Fire” by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, which I slowed down for the credits.

This is way more dangerous than texting and driving. Regardles, this photo shows that Diggles is quickly becoming a “driving” force in the snowboard film world. P: Kevin Westenbarger

J: Where did the idea to blow shit up come from?

R: One idea I had early on before we got up to Bachelor was to go out in the woods with the guys and have a big bonfire. We had a tire fire party last year in Bend with a few guys, and that was my inspiration for the fire party. The rest of the credit has to go to Nick Greeve, my second angle. He rounded up the televisions, couches, pallets, and explosives for the party and brought the guns. He is the real deal, and we couldn’t have done it without him. Plus, why wouldn’t you blow shit up?

J: The scenes with the bikes were pretty cool, as well as all of the shots with you guys in the blue jackets. Was it a calculated effort to get everyone cruising together as a pack or did it just kind of happen?

R: Anthony [Manfredi] and L’Arrogs organized the jackets for the team before we got there and had everyone’s names printed on the back. It definitely led to creating a cool, family vibe. The bike thing was L’Arrogs idea. The place we were all staying at in Sunriver had all those bikes in the garage, and it ended up to be just enough for everyone to ride. Except for Jaeger, who got the cute little pink scooter. I was really happy with the way everyone stuck together at Superpark, not only because we were a really small filming crew, but also because everyone was being supportive of each other, and helping when they could.

The Bataleon team doesn’t even need chairlifts. They brought their own high-speed quads to Superpark. P: Kevin Westenbarger

J: Do you have any funny stories from the filming or editing of this piece you can share with everyone?

R: The whole week was full of laughs. Whenever you have that diverse of a group, funny shit is going to happen. I think L’Arrogs made me laugh the most though. His Franglish combined with his inability to understand me for some reason led to some really funny conversations. Also, Ted hitting Ben in the nuts at the fire party. That was hilarious.

What’s the similarity between the Bataleon team and Tibetan monks? They wear the same outfits and they’re not afraid to light themselves on fire for the greater good of their mission.

J: Any advice or tricks of the trade you might be able to share with all of the aspiring filmmakers out there?